Stocks open lower as Wall Street pauses in march toward records

U.S. stocks traded modestly lower Thursday as a recent rally, which has propelled equities toward record highs, eased. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -0.67%
fell 61 points, or 0.3%, at 17,941, while the S&P 500
SPX, -0.55%
declined 9 points, or 0.4%, to 2,109. The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP, -0.22%
gave up 23 points, or 0.5%, to 4,951. Moves in stocks came as the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasurys
TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.40%
touched their lowest level in four months, at 1.67%. The market was little-changed after a reading of employment, released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, showed that initial jobless claims in early June fell to 264,000. In stock movers, shares of Chesapeake Energy Corp.
CHK, -5.05%
helped lead the market lower as crude-oil prices
CLN6, +0.00%
retreated off 11-month highs set on Wednesday.

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